London Buses route 117 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between West Middlesex University Hospital and Staines, it is operated by Metroline.
History
Route 117 commenced operation on 16 April 1916 as a Sunday-only service from Heston-Hounslow station via Bedfont and Staines to Egham. The section between Hounslow and Staines would later become route 116. The route was withdrawn after 9 July 1916.
On 13 April 1919, the route ran again on Sundays.
On 8 June 1919, the route was extended to Virginia Water. This extension was withdrawn on 16 November and the whole route was withdrawn after 28 December 1919.
On 2 April 1920, the route was reintroduced on Sundays between Heston-Hounslow station and Virginia Water. On 30 June 1920, the route began daily operation.
On 14 July 1920, the Hounslow terminus was changed to Hounslow garage. On 20 October 1920, the section between Egham and Virginia Water was withdrawn, but was reinstated in the summers of 1921 and 1922.
Between 27 July 1921 and 3 January 1922, the route had a long eastward extension: Via Isleworth, St Margarets, Richmond, Sheen, Putney, and Wandsworth to Clapham Common. On Saturdays and Sundays until 11 December 1921, route 117A ran between Ascot and Clapham Common.
On 4 January 1922, the route was reorganised to run daily from Hounslow garage to Egham via Feltham, Ashford and Staines.
On 31 May 1922, route 117A ran between Hounslow and Virginia Water daily via Bedfont, and on to Ascot at weekends.
On 11 October 1922, route 117A ran between Hounslow Garage and Staines via Bedfont, and on to Ascot on summer Sundays.
On 12 November 1924, the route was extended daily from Egham via Englefield Green and Old Windsor to Windsor Castle.
On 1 December 1924, route 117A was renumbered 116A.
Between 11 July 1926 and 10 October 1926, the route had another venture eastwards. This time it was just on Sundays and went via London Road, Spur Road, Syon Lane, Great West Road, Chiswick High Road, and Hammersmith, to Shepherds Bush.
On 1 February 1928, the route was extended from Windsor to Slough via Eton.
On 11 May 1932, the weekdays ran in two sections: Hounslow to Egham and Staines to Slough.
On 19 February 1933, the Sunday service was withdrawn between Windsor and Slough.
On 1 March 1933, the weekday section between Staines and Slough was renumbered 417 and became a "country" route.
On 14 August 1935, the route ran between Hounslow and Staines daily, and on to Windsor via Runnymede on Saturday afternoons and Sundays.
On 30 September 1935 the extension beyond Staines was withdrawn.
From 6 April 1936 to 21 November 1939, the route ran daily between Hounslow and Virginia Water.
From 22 November 1939 to 1962, the route ran between Hounslow and Egham.
In 1946, 1947 and 1948, an extension to Virginia Water (this time renumbered 117A) ran on summer Sundays and on summer Saturday afternoons in 1946 and 1947.
In 1950, the Saturday afternoon services ran 18 times an hour between Hounslow and Staines with six an hour going on to Egham. On weekdays the service was much less intensive, with alternate buses running only as far as Lower Feltham.
In 1962, trolleybus route 657 from Hounslow to Shepherd's Bush was withdrawn and the route was doubled in length to run to Shepherd's Bush on Mondays to Saturdays (the replacement on Sundays was route 81B). The Egham to Staines section was withdrawn on Sundays at the same time.
On 19 July 1975, the Egham to Staines section was withdrawn completely. The Brentford to Shepherd’s Bush section was transferred to route 237.
On 28 January 1978, the route was converted to driver-only operation. The Hounslow to Brentford section was not covered in the evenings or at weekends.
On 10 August 1981, the Saturday service was extended to Brentford. The Sunday service followed on 27 November 1993.
On 31 August 1996, the service was withdrawn east of the London Road junction with Thornbury Road in Isleworth. Hounslow bus station had severe capacity constraints, and this was the first point east of there that buses could be reversed.
On 1 September 2001, the route was extended further along London Road, then via St John's Road and Twickenham Road to West Middlesex University Hospital.
On 9 August 1986, the route was transferred to Westlink.
On 10 August 1991, the route passed to Tellings-Golden Miller with a fleet of ex Midland Fox Leyland Nationals. Tellings-Golden Miller pulled out of bus operations quickly.
On 23 February 1992, the route passed to London & Country.
On 31 August 1996, the route passed to Armchair and withdrawn between Isleworth and Brentford.
On 1 September 2000, the route was retained by Armchair with brand new Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLFs introduced. The route was extended from Isleworth to West Middlesex University Hospital at the same time.
In November 2004, the route was included in the sale of Armchair to ComfortDelGro.
On 2 September 2006, the route was retained by Armchair.
On 6 January 2007, ComfortDelGro integrated Armchair into its Metroline subsidiary.
On 3 September 2011, the route passed to Abellio London operating from their Fulwell (TF) garage with brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts introduced.
On 3 September 2016, the route passed back to Metroline operating from their Brentford (AH) garage using Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts.
Current Route
Route 117 operates via these primary locations:
- West Middlesex University Hospital
- St John's Road for Isleworth Station
- Hounslow High Street
- Hounslow Heath
- North Feltham
- Feltham for Feltham Station
- Ashford Station
- Staines Station
- Staines Bus Station